1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to sports clipboards or play-boards and more particularly to an electronic clipboard module with an associated player remote unit.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Sports clipboards are known in the art and are used by coaches to sketch and record plays. Coaches also keep copies of plays in notebooks, on laptop computers, handheld computing devices and elsewhere. During a game, a coach may have no direct access to recorded plays and no way to record new plays.
In some sports like football, a one-way radio is commonly used between a coach and a player, where the player is equipped with a radio receiver and earphone or speaker in a helmet. The coach can verbally relay plays or ideas to the player. Presently, there is no way to send a visual representation of a play to the player. Currently, the NFL uses GP350, general purpose, encrypted radios manufactured by Motorola Corporation to transmit verbal instructions to quarterbacks, as well as HT750 radios, also manufactured by Motorola Corporation to send messages to referees and to request instant replays. In addition to communicating with the quarterback, an NFL head coach also is in continuous communication with all of the other coaches, his assistants on the sidelines. The coach is also normally linked via a hardware router to a defensive coordinator and a running back coach in a box above the game. In the NFL, the coach may talk to the quarterback until the play clock runs down to 15 seconds.
It is also known to photograph plays during a game and to cause these photos to be relayed to the coaching staff. These photos are normally printed out in hardcopy or displayed on a monitor.
It would be advantageous to have an electronic coach's clipboard that could store and recall images of plays that the coach could carry or have immediately available. It would also be advantageous to optionally have this electronic clipboard relay play images to a player wearing a small receiving and display device preferably on the wrist or other easily accessible place, and/or for the player to have the ability to display pre-recorded plays from his personal unit. Finally, it would be advantageous for real-time game photographs to be optionally displayed on the coach's electronic clipboard.